White Blank Page
by Brianna Jackson
Summary: Katniss Everdeen needed no one on her rise to the top... Or so she thought.


Chapter 1

"You're late!"

The voice only adds to the ever present headache and Katniss doesn't even bother glancing over her shoulder as she steps out of the elevator and into the lobby of Snow and Heavensbee, LLP. The clock has not yet to hit 8:30 and the young lawyer has already had the pleasure of spilling coffee onto her expensive Vera Wang skirt and managing to crack the iPhone she just had repaired last Tuesday.

Katniss was never one for Mondays but this went down in the records books as possibly the worst.

She strides confidently by Haymitch Abernathy's' office, raising her hand slowly in greeting. She can smell the scotch drifting from the room as she moves past and can't help but laugh softly to herself. Chancing a glance inside, she's not surprised to see him face down, a glass with dark liquid in his hand. Haymitch was damn good lawyer but she was surprised his drinking habits had yet to get him into any serious trouble.

Upon entering the law firm Katniss is greeted by the familiar smells of burning coffee and the strong unpleasant smell of cigarette smoke. Annie Cresta smiles politely from her spot in the corner as does Madge Undersee who waves while mumbling softly into the phone.

The floor is busy today. Mondays are always the busiest day of the week due to all lawyers usually taking Sundays off. Katniss learned a long time ago that in this profession, you never really get a day off. She can tell by the looks of almost everyone that they've been awake for hours on end and the sun had barley risen.

As Katniss moves to her desk, she smiles politely at those who do the same to her and takes a moment to speak to one of the interns who insists she retrieve Katnisses breakfast for the morning. Unlike most associates, Katniss dismisses her with a wave of her hand. "Do lawyer like things. Don't waste your time here getting everyone coffee," Katniss instructs while turning on her Mac. She doesn't hear the interns reply but instead is focusing on clearing her emails. She's amazed to see that over the twelve hours she's slept, she's been emailed over a hundred times by respective clients.

She huffs.

She has a few from Haymitch who wants her to look over his current case. She has a feeling he'll want her to join him on it. Haymitch rarely ever asks associates to help him on his cases but he's taken an undeniable liking to Katniss since she joined the firm. She doesn't know why but she doesn't question it. It's an honor to get work with him although she would _never_ tell him that.

After sending a generic reply, Katniss finishes her morning with replying to almost all of the messages in her inbox. When her eyes dart up to the clock she realizes nearly an hour as passed.

Katniss has been working at the firm for a little over a year now and was one of the firms most respected associates. She was young. Fresh out of law school and had little experience with the serious cases that Snow and Heavensbee dealt with but everyone knew she showed promise. Anyone who denied it was either stupid or handicapped.

"Catnip." Katniss rolls her eyes at the nickname, keeping her eyes trained on the computer as she scoffs out a reply.

"Gale, what brings you here at this time of the morning?"

Gale Hawthorne works at Haynes and Boone, a law firm on the south side of New York. Being childhood friends, he and Katniss had moved to New York at the same time after finishing law school. Gale was two years older and had already finished his internships while Katniss had just received her first offer at Snow and Heavensbee.

He got a job at Haynes and Boone and Katniss took her internship. Even with being in two places, they both managed to stay friends. Katniss rarely saw Gale on anything work related and was surprised by his sudden arrival at her place of business.

Gale saunters into her view, taking a seat in the desk across from her which she hadn't even noticed was unoccupied. Katniss briefly wondered where Cato was but the thought was quickly replaced by the feeling of relief. He was a douche. Unbelievably bright but nevertheless, a douche.

"We needed some files from Snow for a client that recently had a case over here," he says, playing with the rubber band ball lying on Catos desk. Katnisses eyes flicker to his for a fraction of a second before returning to her computer screen.

"He switched over to the dark side?" Katniss jokes, smirking as Gale send a rubber band flying in her direction. She dodges the flying object with ease and sends it back effortlessly. Gale is not so quick in his reaction and flinches at the sting of the rubber band against his skin. "All those years in the woods and you couldn't avoid a silly rubber band."

Gale mocks hurt but laughs a moment later. He runs a hand through his carefully styled dark hair and shrugs. "Guess too much of the city has gotten to me." Katniss can't argue that. "But anyway, I wanted to know what you're doing tonight. I kind of have something that I want to tell you."

Katniss frowns, her fingers moving quickly over the keyboard as she finishes the paperwork for a case she's just closed. She smirks as she sends it in. _Another one bites the dust, _she thinks. "I'm sorry, what?" She asks, forgetting for a moment that Gale was sitting in front of her. She finally lifts her head from her computer, watching as his eyebrows knit together in annoyance.

"I wanted to know if you wanted to have dinner," Gale replies, more quietly this time almost as if he's afraid to ask again. Katniss checks the calendar taped to her desk.

"All I have tonight is a meeting at 6. It shouldn't last too long. I should be done by seven, seven thirty maybe," she says.

"I'll be here at seven. Reservation at eight." Gale bids Katniss goodbye before rising to his feet and wandering through the office. Katniss can't help but notice the way Madges eyes follow him discreetly as he moves past reception and out of the door.

She can't help but feel a twinge of jealously at the girls longing looks. She was used to it. Katniss couldn't deny Gale of his handsome looks but still. She almost felt as if Gale was hers. She felt protective of him. After all, she was all he had out here and he was all she had.

Some might believe them to be couple but they knew the truth and that was all that mattered.

Shortly after Gale's departure, Katniss is interrupted for the second time this morning by the same annoying intern who taps quietly on her desk. "What," Katniss growls, looking up from her most recent case file. The interns eyes grow wide under her icy stare. "What do you need?"

"Um," she mumbles. "Mr. Abernathy wanted me to tell you that he needed you to report to his office as soon as possible to discuss the case he emailed you about."

Katniss groans, adjusting her skirt as she stands. "I could use that coffee now," she tells the nameless intern as she walks ahead of her.

"Of course, Ms. Everdeen. I'll get right on that!" She's too enthusiastic and Katniss makes a note of it. The last thing she needs is an overly enthusiastic intern following her like a lost puppy.

Upon arriving to Haymitches office, she's amazed to see he's awoken from his previous slumber and that she isn't alone in his office. Annoyance runs through her as she takes in the nameless blonde sitting in her seat talking softly with Haymitch. His soft blonde curls are slicked back and the undertone of his cologne instantly gives Katniss a headache. Just from viewing the back of his head, she has no recollection of this certain intern and Katniss knows there is no way he's an associate. Katniss had been the last one to join the law firm and from speaking with Haymitch, Snow had no interest in hiring another one.

She rolls her eyes, knocking softly on the open door, announcing her arrival.

"You needed to see me," she says softly, not bothering to meet the eyes of the mystery guest as she sits in the seat beside him. Haymitch is infamous for bringing lousy interns in on cases that they have no business being on and Katniss doesn't bother with learning their names. This one would be no different.

She's cold and she knows it but the only thing that truly matters is how good she is at her job and Katniss Everdeen is damn good at it.

"How nice of you to finally join us, sweetheart," Haymitch growls.

"The hangover a bad one today?" Katniss jokes, her eyebrows wiggling under his apprehensive stare. She is aware of the other pair of eyes on her but she refrains from looking.

Haymitch groans, running his hands over his face and shaking his head as if trying to rid water from his ears. When he returns to a state of normalcy, he extends his hand out towards the mystery guest. "Katniss, Peeta Mellark. Peeta, Katniss Everdeen," he introduces.

"Nice to meet you," _Peeta _says.

Katniss turns to him slowly, her eyes widening upon meeting his. She's instantly amazed at the color of his eyes. The blue almost reminds her of the ocean, maybe a little brighter with softer hints of green. His lips are pursed, forming a small smile that makes the dimples on his chin apparent. Although he doesn't appear to be very tall, his stocky frame makes up for any height he's missing.

Katniss is unaware of how long she's been staring until Haymitch clears his throat, alerting her back to the previous time and place. Blinking rapidly, she places her hand in his before turning back to face Haymitch. She can feel the blush rising on her cheeks and tries her best to cover the reddening by forming a curtain with her hair.

The intern was undeniably attractive but nevertheless he was still an intern. And interns didn't get her attention. They didn't deserve it.

"About the case?" She asks Haymitch, ending the awkward silence in the room and getting the meeting back on track.

"Right," Haymitch slurs, shuffling through an array of paper work on his desk until he finds the one he's looking for. Katniss wastes no time before reaching over and grabbing ahold of the manila envelope herself and reading through its contents.

Katniss is unamused by her findings.

"It's a robbery," she states simply, her eyebrows knitting together in annoyance.

"Yes. A very high profile robbery."

"Haymitch, no disrespect but I helped on a case that got a murderer convicted. Call me crazy but I think this may be a little beneath me."

Haymitch lets out a humorless laugh and shakes his head, his eyes shut and feet propped up atop his old desk. Katnisses eyes rush down to the cigarette burns in the wood. She briefly thinks to offer to buy him a new one. "You can't get all the murders, sweetheart." She flinches at the use of her nickname.

"Over a million dollars was stolen from that apartment, Katniss." The voice does not belong to Haymitch but it belongs to Peeta. Katniss stares forward, feeling her blood quicken at the sound of her name spewing from Mr. Peeta Mellarks lips. When did an intern ever go around speaking to her as if she was below him?

"Haymitch-" she begins, ignoring Peeta altogether.

"You and Peeta will work this case together. I'm letting you take the lead on this. You're welcome. Now get the hell out of my office." The tone Haymitch uses lets Katniss know there is no point in arguing.

Katnisses eyes widen at the mention of the words "Peeta" and "together". It was one of Katnisses first lead cases and although she wished it had been something a little more exciting (possibly a murder or attempt at least) she didn't want to screw it up. Correction, she didn't want _him_ to screw it up.

Her eyes briefly shoot over to a frightened Peeta Mellark who has his eyes trained ahead of him on Haymitch who wears an uninterested expression.

The three of them sit in silence for a while, Katniss not knowing whether to argue and Peeta not knowing what to say. Once again, Katniss is the first to break, getting to her feet in a flash and grabbing ahold on the envelope before Peeta has a chance to blink. Haymitch smirks from his seat, his feet still atop his desk and his hands twiddling in his lap. "Thank you, Ms. Everdeen," he whispers, his eyes shooting over to Peeta. "Good luck, Mr. Mellark."

Katnisses hair follows behind her like fire as she storms through the office, casting a few evil looks at those brave enough to look her in the eye. She's aware of the blonde headed blue eyed intern following her by the smell of his cologne which is far too heavy for her liking. She spins on her heel quickly, watching as Peeta stumbles to a halt just behind her.

"I could use a coffee," she says, her eyes annoyed but her voice calm. _Kill em with kindness_, she reminds herself. Her eyes scan for the enthusiastic intern who is—of course—nowhere to be found in an _actual_ time of need.

Peetas eyes widen at her statement and Katniss feels as if he's offended. "I'm sorry but I can't help you with that," he says warily, his eyebrows knitting together.

"You're an intern. You don't have very much work around here and as your case leader; I would really enjoy a coffee." The request is simple enough, Katniss thinks to herself.

Katniss prepared herself for an angry storm away but what she wasn't prepared for was the humorless laugh spewing from Peeta. The sound was loud and eyes began to find the pair in the center of the office. Katniss looked around expectantly, as if for someone to help her but everyone looked on with the same confusion she had.

_Great, _she thinks. _I'm in charge of a maniac. _

When Peeta finally manages to calm down, he's clutching his side and nearly wheezing from excretion. "You think I'm an intern?" He asks while still struggling to catch his breath. At this point the two no longer have an audience.

"You are an intern," Katniss states, folding her arms across her chest and raising a perfectly arched eyebrow.

"What leads you to that conclusion?" Peeta is mocking now and Katniss can't hide the burn forming on her cheeks.

"I've never seen you in this office before, therefore you are not an associate. That leaves you as an intern and I try my hardest not to pay attention to interns which would be why I've never seen you," Katniss explains watching Peetas expression which remains unreadable.

"Well you're wrong," Peeta scoffs, smirking the same way he had been in Haymitches office. Although it was charming before, the act annoys the hell out of Katniss now.

"What did you say?"

"You're wrong."

Its Katnisses turn to smirk. "I'm not," she hisses. "I'm never wrong."

"We'll you're wrong about me," Peeta whispers, leaning his face in closer to hers. So close in fact, that Katniss can smell the spearmint gum on his breath. The fact makes her uncomfortable and with a flick of her wrist, she's pushed him away to a comfortable distance.

"I'll kick you off this case," Katniss warns, watching the way his eyes light up at her words.

"You can't do that."

"And why the hell not?"

"Because we're doing this together. You heard Haymitch. You can't do this without me, I can't do this without you. We're partners on this." He motions between Katniss and himself in emphasize, smiling at the angry expression that has yet to leave Katnisses face. "You're stuck with me."

There silent for a long moment and Katniss can feel the happiness radiating off of him. She realizes that he thinks he has won. _He_ thinks _he's_ won.

"I don't like you, Peeta Mellark."

He just smirks before promptly turning on his heel and marching away.

Katniss is left baffled in the middle of the room and returns to her desk, angry tears threatening to spill from her eyes as she sits down. No one saw their little stand off and if they did, no one would dare say anything to her about it but yet she can't help feeling embarrassed.

She's embarrassed at the way he raised his voice and the way he made her lose her resolve. No one does that to Katniss. No one ever has.

The last thing she needs is some other lawyer coming in on her case and showing her up. She's the head associates. No one out does her because she works harder than everyone else. She's smarter than everyone else. She's always one step ahead of everyone else. And Peeta Mellark makes her feel like she is none of those things.

She doesn't like the feeling.

Without second thought she opens a browser on her computer screen, typing Peetas name into the search box and waiting patiently as the search engine loads all her findings.

Katniss finds he grew up in San Francisco. He has two brothers and his mother and father run an upscale bakery there. He attended a private high school. Played three varsity sports and was of course—inevitably-prom king both his junior and senior year.

After high school it seemed he went to USC and then, to Harvard.

He wasn't lying.

He graduated from law school the same year she had and she finds a picture of him, smiling happily as he shakes hands with the administrator handing him his degree. She gags, her eyes darting to the same picture she has lying on her desk behind an array of pens.

Lastly, after going through public records, she learns that Peeta Mellark has never lost a case. This knowledge worries her.

Of course, he never had any big cases. None like the one Katniss has had but still. He's never lost.

"Shit," she curses.

"Something troubling you?"

"Oh, Cato. You're back," Katniss says without the least bit of emotion in her voice. She closes the browser though, nervous now that she has a witness.

"Don't pretend you didn't miss me, Everdeen." Katniss can sense the shit eating smirk he's wearing and has to fight the urge to stab him in the esophagus with one of the company pens lying on her desk. "Are you not even going to ask me where I was?"

This was the thing about Cato Evans that Katniss could not stand. No matter what the conversation (and since her first day there had always been conversation), it always had be brought back to Mr. Cato Evans himself. Katniss glances up from her now blank computer screen, raising an eyebrow in challenge.

"Night cap at Glimmers," he says with a wink. Katniss can feel the blush rising on her cheeks as her eyes meet Glimmers. Glimmer straightens immediately, busing herself in whatever is on her desk and chewing roughly on her purple colored gum. Katniss can't help but scoff.

"Can't pretend I didn't see that coming," she mutters.

There silent for a while, Katniss typing out an email and Cato doing absolutely nothing.

"Did you meet Peeta?" Katniss cringes at the name.

"Oh I meet him." The words come out as a snarl but Katniss is unable to help it. Cato doesn't seem to notice because he's so used to Katnisses hostility all the time.

"He's a cool guy, huh?" Katniss doesn't answer. She doesn't need too.

* * *

Katniss exits the office promptly after her meeting at exactly 7:17.

She hurries clearing her desk, grabbing her computer in one hand and purse in the other. No one else is in the office and she's thankful for that. She hasn't had the best of days and she's pleased that she doesn't have to worry about making small talk with someone looking for a buddy late at night.

The elevator ride from the tenth floor is a short one without any stops. Her phone buzzes with a text from Gale, reminding her they have plans. Katniss types out a reply. She hadn't forgotten.

He's nowhere to be found in the lobby when she arrives though, and for a moment she's worried. Gale is never late. At least not when it comes to her.

She's greeted with the answering machine when she calls and groans in annoyance.

"Thom!" She yells across the lobby towards the security guard sitting behind the counter. Usually, she would never be so rude and unprofessional but it was Thom and no one else was loitering in the lobby.

"Ms. Everdeen?" He replies. He does not need to scream and his deep voice simply carries across the lobby.

"Have you seen Gale? We had dinner plans."

"Not since this morning, no mam," he answers, returning to his magazine. Katniss whispers her thanks, going back to her phone to shoot him a quick text to tell him she's waiting.

"What would Katniss Everdeen have business doing here this late into the evening?"

Katniss fights her urge to scream.

"Lawyers never sleep, haven't you learned that by now?"

Peeta chuckles softly beside her, shoving his hands into the pockets in his carefully tailored slacks. Katniss keeps her back turned towards him, her eyes trained out of the glass windows. She watches the people on the streets as they hail taxis, tourist as they stop and take pictures of the architecture of nearly everything. She smirks as she watches a little girl—obviously a New York native—walks her small puppy through an array of busy people, smiling at each one. The girl reminds her of Prim, who reminds her of home, which reminds her of how much she wishes she was there.

"Do you need a ride, Katniss?" Peeta asks suddenly. Katniss had forgotten he was even there.

"I can hail a taxi myself, thank you."

Peeta shrugs. "Just trying to be polite."

Katniss can't help but feel guilty. Of course he was just trying to be polite but that doesn't change the fact that he's competition. He may not see it that way but she does and that thought alone puts her ahead in this little race between the two of them.

"I'm waiting for a friend," Katniss tells him, still not looking in his direction.

"Boyfriend?"

Katniss rolls her eyes. "No. A childhood friend."

"Oh. Is he visiting?"

"No. He lives here. He works at a firm on the south side."

"I see. We'll I suppose I could just wait here until you've been retrieved."

She shudders at his choice of words. "Retrieved? Mr. Mellark I am not a dog."

"I apologize that it sounded that way," he whispers. "I just don't want my friend to be waiting alone."

"I am not your friend, Mr. Mellark," Katniss growls.

"Well you are my friend, Ms. Everdeen." Katniss doesn't bother responding. "You know, whether you like it or not I am here to stay. This is a big case for me, Katniss and I don't want to pass it up because my team member doesn't want to work with me."

Katniss is silent.

"I don't know if I did anything to you or-"

"I'm top dog around here," Katniss says suddenly, cutting him off midsentence.

Peetas eyes narrow and then his eyebrows shoot up. "It's one case, Katniss. You'll have plenty of others."

"I just hadn't imagined that my first case I'd have a lead on would be shared with an Abercrombie model straight off the plane from sunny California."

Peeta stares at her intently. She had expected him to be slightly offended by the jab but he doesn't have the least bit of emotion on his face. She can't hide the frown that graces her face. She had spent all day waiting to use that carefully crafted line and was hurt by his dismissal of it. She had at least expected him to tease her back.

"You're not an easy person to get along with, are you?" He asks suddenly. Katniss isn't offended by his jab either. He wasn't the first person to point this out and quite frankly, she liked herself just the way she was.

"Yes well," she replied simply.

Peeta says nothing. Katniss says nothing. They stand in silence.

At 7:59, a sweaty Gale Hawthorne finally makes his appearance in the lobby. Katniss sighs in relief upon seeing him, a blush forming on her cheeks. Peeta notices, his eyes moving back and forth between the two.

Thom lets Gale in, waving as Gale mumbles something to him. "Katniss, I'm so sorry!" He pants, hands on his knees as he struggles to catch his breath.

"You've been running," Katniss points out simply.

Gale nods. "Nice observation," he remarks sarcastically.

"Why were you running?"

Gale shrugs her off, shaking his hand near her face, telling her to let it go. "Long story."

Katniss simply shrugs. "I'm not really all that hungry," she tells Gale after awhile.

"You couldn't have told me that before I sprinted all the way here," he asks, still breathless.

"I just decided I wasn't."

"Are you mad at me or something?"

Yes. "No."

"Then what's the deal?"

"I'm simply not hungry."

"She's bluffing," Peeta says, lifting his eyebrows at Gale who stares at him with a blank expression. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Peeta Mellark," he introduces once he recognizes Gales confused expression. He extends a strong hand to Gale who takes it without hesitation, nodding his hello.

"Gale Hawthorne."

"Ah, Katnisses childhood friend," Peeta says as if he hadn't know. Katniss groans.

"Yeah. Peeta, right?" Gale asks. Peeta nods. "Not a common name. I'm sorry I don't think I've ever heard of you."

Peeta smiles and Katniss cant help but notice how beautiful he is. She erases the thought from her mind immediately. "I'm new around town," he answers.

"Oh, from where?"

"California."

"Don't know why you would leave there. Beautiful weather, gorgeous ladies," Gale jokes. They laugh together and Katniss believes she's going to be sick.

Is Gale actually making friends with him?

They chat for a little while longer, ignoring Katnisses remarks and sarcastic comments.

"Hey man, I know this might be sudden but do you wanna get a drink with us tonight? We'll make it quick because I know you guys have a job to do but-"

"No," Katniss snarls, cutting Gale off mid-sentence.

Neither bats an eye at her of course.

"I'd love too."

Then they start their way out the door, leaving her behind in a confused rush.

Katniss realizes Peeta not only stole her case but also her best friend.

* * *

_WEEEELLLLLLLLL..._

_Lemme know. _

_A ballad of love a hate is almost done! _

_I want to add at least one more sextion to it before publishing it. _

_thanks. _


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